Use of scheimpflug photography to study iris configuration in patients with pigment dispersion syndrome and pigmentary glaucoma.

Purpose: To evaluate the use of Scheimpflug photography in the examination of iris configuration and anterior chamber depth in eyes with pigment dispersion syndrome (PDS) and pigmentary glaucoma (PG).

Methods: The Nidek EAS 1000 Scheimpflug camera was used to photograph the anterior segment of 12 eyes with PDS/PG, as well as 12 age-matched controls and four eyes with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). Anterior chamber depth, iris insertion angle, and iris configuration were evaluated. Five eyes of three patients were serially photographed over 10 min while blinking was prevented.

Results: Patients with PDS/PG showed deeper anterior chambers than age-matched controls or patients with POAG. Nine of 12 PDS/PG eyes showed a concave iris configuration. There were no concave irides noted in control or POAG eyes. Preventing blinking resulted in significant anterior excursion of concave irides in three of the five eyes studied.

Conclusions: Scheimpflug photography is a useful modality to study iris configuration. These photographs document the presence of a concave iris configuration in some patients with PDS/PG, and support the hypothesis that blinking may be significant in producing this configuration.